High-Caliber Tensions: Implications of Florida’s Medical Marijuana Program on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Authors

• George Bell, Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office
• Kate E. Altman, University of Miami School of Law

Abstract

What is more valuable—the right to protect yourself, or the right to seek medical treatment? Presently, law abiding Floridians must choose between the two. Because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (“ATF”) classifies medical marijuana patients as “unlawful drug users,” Floridians enrolled in the State’s medical marijuana scheme are prohibited from lawfully owning firearms. A lawsuit currently pending before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals seeks to address this constitutional conflict. This Article discusses that lawsuit, the legal framework in which it’s proceeding, and how courts may decide the appropriate balance between such fundamental questions.

Recommended Citation

George Bell & Kate E. Altman, High-Caliber Tensions: Implications of Florida’s Medical Marijuana Program on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 80 U. Mia. L. Rev. 945 (2026).
Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol80/iss4/6